Apparatus, systems and methods for song play using a media device having a buffer

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods control presentation of audio-only content that is broadcast to a media device. An exemplary embodiment receives media content that is currently received in a channel of a broadcasted media content stream; determines whether the currently received channel is a type of channel that provides audio/visual content or a type of channel that provides audio-only content; controls presentation of the received media content using at least one audio/visual content control function in response to determining that the currently received channel is the type of channel that provides audio/visual content; controls presentation of the received media content using at least one audio-only content control function in response to determining that the currently received channel is the type of channel that provides audio-only content, wherein the at least one audio/visual content control function is different from the at least one audio-only content control function.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/717,083, filed May 20, 2015, granted as U.S. Pat. No. 10,136,190 onNov. 20, 2018, and entitled “APPARATUS, SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SONGPLAY USING A MEDIA DEVICE HAVING A BUFFER,” the contents of which areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

Streaming broadcast audio content often includes a series of songs thatare presented to the user for their listening enjoyment. The songs maybe serially presented one song after another in an uninterrupted manner,and/or may have intervening non-musical segments between individualsongs. For example, if the broadcast audio content is provided by apublic radio broadcast station, one or more songs may be played withintervening advertisement, commentary from show hosts, a news report, orthe like. On the other hand, a pay-for-listening service may present theseries of songs in an uninterrupted manner with few, or even no,intervening non-musical segments.

Such broadcast audio content is available from a variety of over the airsources. An example freely accessible broadcast audio content is amusic-format radio broadcast station that is broadcasting the series ofsongs over an amplitude modulation (AM) or a frequency modulated (FM)radio frequency (RF) wireless band, referred to as an over the air orwireless band. Many different types of media devices, often referred toas AM or FM radios, are configured to present (play) the receivedbroadcast audio content as the audio content is received by the mediadevice over the RF airwaves. Typically, there is no possible way forparticular songs to be replayed or skipped over since the broadcastaudio content is being received and played by the AM/FM radio in realtime.

Other sources of broadcast wireless audio content are available. Forexample, satellite radio provides the broadcast audio content from anoverhead satellite. Typically, such satellite-based services areprovided to a particular user's media device for a fee (service charge)or as part of a promotion (such as when a new automobile is purchased).Here, specially designed media devices, commonly referred to assatellite radios, are configured to receive satellite signals having thebroadcast audio content. Such satellite radios are typicallycryptographically secured to prevent free public access to the broadcastaudio content. Further, since a user typically pays for receiving thesatellite broadcast audio content, the series of songs are oftenprovided with no, or at least very few and/or short duration,intervening non-musical segments.

In some broadcast media environments, both audio/visual content andaudio-only content is broadcast to a media device. Such media devices,commonly referred to as set top boxes or receivers, are configured toreceive such broadcast audio/visual content, wherein the video portionis presentable to a user on a display (e.g., television/TV, monitor,screen, or other display device) and the audio portions is presented bysound reproducing devices, such as the speakers of a TV and/or aplurality of speakers controlled by a surround sound receiver system orthe like. That is, the video content and the associated audio contentare synchronously presented to the user. The broadcast audio/visualcontent may be provided to the media devices using a suitable wire basedcontent delivery system that employs a coaxial cable and/or a fiberoptic cable. Alternatively, the broadcast audio/visual content may bereceived by the media in a suitable wireless medium, such as a FM signalor a satellite signal.

For example, a satellite provider or cable provider may broadcast alarge number of different audio/visual content events to the user'smedia device. Typically, the media device receives many differentaudio/visual content events at the same time on different channels.Examples of audio/visual content include movies, television programming,sporting events, news casts, documentaries, or the like. Additionally,the satellite provider or cable provider may provide a plurality ofaudio-only content, similar to the over the air or wireless broadcastaudio content provided by AM, FM, or satellite broadcast providers.

Because of the processing time required to receive, process, and formatthe received video portion of the broadcast audio/visual content, theseaudio/visual content receiving media devices typically employ a bufferthat temporarily stores the received broadcast audio/visual content sothat a continuous uninterrupted stream of audio/visual content may beprovided to the components of the media content presentation system(such as the TV and/or surround sound system). Such buffers aretypically configured to store several minutes, or even longer durations,or the processed audio/visual content.

The user may operate the media device provisioned with such a buffer toperform various presentation operations, commonly referred to as “trick”functions. An example trick function is referred to as a “pause”function wherein presentation of the video content is paused. That is,presentation of the stream of video content (serial presentation of aseries of video frames, wherein each video frame is presented for abrief predefined duration of time) is halted when a pause operation isinitiated. During the pause operation, a currently presented video frameor a selected video frame is shown on the display of the TV for anindefinite duration. When the user ends the pause operation,presentation of the video resumes. During the pause operation, thecorresponding audio portion is also halted such that when the pauseoperation is ended, presentation of the audio content resumes insynchronism with presentation of the video content.

Another trick function is the “rewind” function. With a rewind function,previously presented video frames are re-accessed from the buffer andare presented in a backward manner on the display of the TV. That is,the user sees a backward or reverse presentation of the video content.During such rewind operations, the audio portion is halted such thatwhen the video rewind operation ends, presentation of the audio contentresumes in synchronism with presentation of the video content.

The speed at which the rewind presentation is made may vary based on theconfiguration of the media device and/or selection by the user. Forexample, a slow motion rewind operation may be selected by the userwherein the backward presentation of the retrieved video frames presentsa slow speed presentation (slower than normal speed presentation) of thevideo content. Alternatively, a fast rewind operation may be selected bythe user wherein the backward presentation of the retrieved video framesis a fast speed presentation (faster than normal speed presentation) ofthe video content.

Yet another video presentation alternative is a “jump back” function,wherein previously presented video content is again presented beginningat some predefined duration back in time. Here, a previously presentedvideo frame is accessed from the buffer. The accessed video frame isselected based upon some predefined duration, such as one or moreminutes, several seconds, or the like. Thus, when this jump backoperation is initiated by the user, presentation of the video content issimply repeated at a point identified by the predefined duration. Duringthe jump back operation, presentation of the audio content also jumpsback by a corresponding duration so as to resume in synchronism withpresentation of the video content.

In the event that some duration of the processed audio/visual contentwhich proceeds the currently presented audio/visual content has beenstored in the buffer, one or more forward presentation operations may beavailable to the user. For example, if the user has previously pausedpresentation of the audio/visual content by five minutes, thenapproximately five minutes of processed audio/visual content that hasnot yet been presented will be stored in the buffer. Alternatively, oradditionally, a rewind function may have been previously performed suchthat a corresponding duration of previously presented audio/visualcontent is stored in the buffer. Accordingly, the user may fast forwardthrough the audio/visual content so that a higher speed presentation ofthe video content is provided. During the fast forward presentationoperation, the audio portion is halted such that when the fast forwardoperation is ended, presentation of the audio content also resumes insynchronism with presentation of the video content.

Another forward presentation operation is the “jump forward” operationwherein the a portion of the video content is skipped over (notpresented) by some predefined duration. Here, a stored video frame thatis ahead of a currently presented video frame is accessed from thebuffer. Presentation then continues beginning with the accessed videoframe such that a portion of the video content between the currentlypresented frame and the accessed video frame is simply not presented.The accessed video frame is selected based upon some predefinedduration, such as one or more minutes, several seconds, or the like.During the jump forward operation, presentation of the audio content isalso advanced by the corresponding duration so as to resume insynchronism with presentation of the video content.

The above-described video presentation trick functions providesatisfactory user-selectable functions for presentation of audio/visualcontent because the user performing these various operations is able toimmediately view the video content. That is, the user receives immediatevisual feedback when they initiate one or more of the above describedaudio/visual content trick functions. For example, the user may want tofast forward through a commercial, advertisement, or the like using thefast forward function, the jump forward function, or a combinationthereof. The user immediately understands if they have advancedpresentation of the audio/visual content sufficiently far enough so thatthey may avoid presentation of the commercial. Once the commercial hasbeen passed over, the user may operate their media device to resumepresentation of the video content.

However, the above-described trick functions for rewinding back through,or moving forward though, broadcast audio-only content does not work ina satisfactory manner. For example, the user may wish to again listen toa currently presented song or a previously presented portion of thatsong. If the user initiates an audio/visual content rewind operation,presentation of the audio content is typically halted. Thus, the user isnot able to perceive how far back in time that the audio content hasbeen rewound. As another example, if the user initiates an audio/visualcontent jump back operation, it is likely that the currently presentedsong will not be re-presented at its beginning. It is even possible thatreplay of the audio content will begin before the conclusion of thepreviously presented song.

Similarly, the user may wish to no longer listen to a currentlypresented song, and advance to the next song in the broadcast audio-onlycontent. If the user initiates an audio/visual content fast forwardoperation, presentation of the audio content is typically halted. Thus,the user is not able to perceive how far the audio content has beenadvanced. As another example, the user may initiate a jump forwardoperation. Here, it is likely that a beginning portion of the next songwill be missed since the amount of the advancement in presentation ofthe audio content is based on the predefined duration of the jumpforward operation. Or, multiple audio/visual content jump forwardoperations may be required to get past the currently presented song andinto the next song in the broadcast audio content.

Accordingly, there is a need in the arts to provide audio-only contenttrick functions in media devices that are configured to receivebroadcast audio/visual content and audio-only content. That is, when themedia device is presenting audio-only content, the media device enablesthe user to advance past a currently presented song to the beginning ofa next song, to replay a currently presented song from its beginning,and/or to access a previously presented song from its beginning.

SUMMARY

Systems and methods of controlling presentation of audio-only contentare disclosed. An exemplary embodiment receives media content that iscurrently received in a channel of a broadcasted media content stream;determines whether the currently received channel is a type of channelthat provides audio/visual content or a type of channel that providesaudio-only content; controls presentation of the received media contentusing at least one audio/visual content control function in response todetermining that the currently received channel is the type of channelthat provides audio/visual content; controls presentation of thereceived media content using at least one audio-only content controlfunction in response to determining that the currently received channelis the type of channel that provides audio-only content, wherein the atleast one audio/visual content control function is different from the atleast one audio-only content control function.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred and alternative embodiments are described in detail below withreference to the following drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the audio contentpresentation system;

FIG. 2 conceptually illustrates an example EPG menu that indicates aplurality of channels of audio/visual content and a plurality ofchannels of audio-only content; and

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the audio contentpresentation system implemented in a remote control.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the audio contentpresentation system 100. The example audio content presentation system100 is provisioned in an example media device 102 that is configured topresent audio/visual content and audio-only content using a mediacontent presentation system 104. A remote control 106 is included thatis configured to control operation of the media device 102, andoptionally, to control one or more of the components of the mediacontent presentation system 104.

Embodiments of the audio content presentation system 100 are configuredto determine whether a currently received channel of media content is atype of channel that provides audio/visual content or a type of channelthat provides audio-only content. If the type of channel providesaudio/visual content, presentation of the received media content iscontrolled using at least one audio/visual content control function.Alternatively, if the type of channel provides audio-only content,presentation of the received media content is controlled using at leastone audio-only content control function.

In practice, embodiments of the audio content presentation system 100may be configured to perform a “skip track forward” operation whenaudio-only content is being received in an audio-only content type ofchannel. The skip track forward operation advances forward, or skipsforward, from presentation of a currently presented song to apresentation of a next song in a stream of received broadcastedaudio-only content type of channel. The skip track forward operation isperformed in response to a user selection made via the remote control106. The skip track forward operation may be initiated by the user atany point in the presentation of the current song that is being playedfrom the broadcasted audio-only content.

Further, embodiments may be configured to perform a “skip trackbackward” operation. The skip track backward operation rewinds, or skipsbackward, from presentation of a currently presented song to apresentation of a previously presented song (starting at its beginning).The skip track backward operation occurs in response to a user selectionmade via the remote control 106.

Embodiments may be further configured to perform a “return to songbeginning” operation. The return to song beginning operation jumpsbackward to the beginning of the currently presented song.

The exemplary media device 102 is communicatively coupled to the mediacontent presentation system 104 that includes a visual display device108, such as a television (hereafter, generically a TV) with a display110 that presents the video content, if present, to the user. The mediacontent presentation system 104 further includes an audio presentationdevice (APD) 112, such as a surround sound receiver controlling one ormore audio reproduction devices (hereafter, generically, speakers 114 a,114 b) that are emitting sound corresponding to the audio portion of thepresented media content. Other types of output devices may also becoupled to the media device 102, including those providing any sort ofstimuli sensible by a human being, such as temperature, vibration andthe like. The video portion of the presented media content is displayedon the display 110 and the audio portion of the media content isreproduced as sounds by one or more speakers 114 a, 114 b. In someembodiments, the media device 102 and one or more of the components ofthe media content presentation system 104 may be integrated into asingle electronic device.

Embodiments of the audio content presentation system 100 may beimplemented in other media devices, such as, but not limited to,stereos, surround-sound receivers, radios, televisions (TVs), digitalvideo disc (DVD) players, digital video recorders (DVRs), cellularphones equipped with video functionality, personal device assistants(PDAs), game playing devices, or personal computers (PCs) that areconfigured to present a video-based media content event that is receivedin a media content stream 116.

The non-limiting exemplary media device 102 comprises a media contentstream interface 118, a processor system 120, a memory 122, a programbuffer 124, an optional digital video recorder (DVR) 126, a presentationdevice interface 128, and a remote interface 130. The memory 122comprises portions for storing the media device logic 132, theelectronic program guide (EPG) information 134, the audio control logic136, and a channel identifier (ID) database 138. In some embodiments,the media device logic 132 and the audio control logic 136 may beintegrated together, and/or may be integrated with other logic. In otherembodiments, some or all of these memory and other data manipulationfunctions may be provided by and using remote server or other electronicdevices suitably connected via the Internet or otherwise to a clientdevice. Other media devices may include some, or may omit some, of theabove-described media processing components. Further, additionalcomponents not described herein may be included in alternativeembodiments.

The functionality of the media device 102, here a set top box, is nowbroadly described. A media content provider provides media content thatis received in one or more multiple media content streams 116.Generally, two different types of media content are communicated in thebroadcast-format media content streams 116, audio/visual content andaudio-only content.

The first type of media content is the audio/visual content. Theaudio/visual content includes a video content portion and an audiocontent portion. Typically, the audio/visual content further includes astream of metadata (control and/or supplemental information) and anoptional stream of closed captioning information (text corresponding tothe audio dialogue and/or audio commentary of the audio/visual content).Non-limiting examples of this first type of media content are movies,television programming, sporting events, news casts, documentaries, orthe like. The video content comprises a series of serially presentedvideo frames when, when presented on the display 110 for a shortduration, are perceived by a viewing user as a motion picture.Typically, audio/visual content presents a thematically-based story. Theaudio content may include dialogue spoken by actors shown in the videocontent, commentary by other individuals, sound effects, and/or music.The associated audio content, and the optional closed captioning contentif selected by the user for presentation, are synchronously presentedwith the video content.

The second type of media content is defined herein as audio-onlycontent. The audio-only content includes a series of serially presentedsongs. When a currently playing song has concluded, the next song in thestream of audio-only content is then presented. The series of songs areoften provided with no, or at least very few and/or short duration,intervening non-musical segments. Preferably, each newly presented songis performed by a different artist. In contrast to audio/visual content,presentation of the songs in the audio-only content is not thematicbased. That is, presentation of the series of songs does not present astory line.

Preferably, visual content is absent from the stream of audio-onlycontent. However, some audio-only content may include limited visualcontent, such as textual information about a currently presented song(such as the artist's name, the song title, the album name, the songlabel, the song recording date, etc.) and/or one or more still images(such as a photograph of the song artist or some object that is asubject of the song) and/or a short video relating to the song. Incontrast to audio/visual content, presentation of the any associatedvideo and/or still image content included in the audio-only content isnot thematic based. That is, presentation of the video and/or stillimages during the series of songs does not present a story line.

In an example embodiment, multiple media content streams 116 withaudio/visual content and/or audio-only content may be multiplexedtogether in one or more transport channels. The transport channels withthe media content streams 116 are communicated to the media device 102from a media system sourced from a remote head end facility (not shown)operated by the media content provider. Non-limiting examples of suchmedia systems include satellite systems, cable system, and the Internet.For example, if the media content provider provides programming via asatellite-based communication system, the media device 102 is configuredto receive one or more broadcasted satellite signals detected by anantenna (not shown). Alternatively, or additionally, the media contentstream 116 can be received from one or more different sources, such as,but not limited to, a cable system, a radio frequency (RF) communicationsystem, or the Internet. The media content stream 116 may bealternatively received from an external device, such as a digital videodisk (DVD) player, compact disk (CD) player, a flash memory medium, oranother suitable memory medium device that stores media content.

The one or more media content streams 116 are received by the mediacontent stream interface 118. In a broadcast environment, one or moretuners 118 a in the media content stream interface 118 selectively tuneto one of the media content streams 116 in accordance with instructionsreceived from the processor system 120. The processor system 120,executing the media device logic 132 and based upon a request for amedia content event of interest specified by a user (not shown), parsesout media content associated with the specified media content event ofinterest.

The media content event of interest, which may be an individualaudio/visual content event or an individual audio-only content event(i.e., a song), is then assembled into a stream of video and/or audioinformation which may be stored by the program buffer 124. The programbuffer 124 temporarily stores the received processed media contentevents. Such buffers are typically configured to store several minutes,or even longer durations, of the processed audio/visual content. Thebuffered (temporarily stored) media content can then be communicated outfrom the program buffer 124 as a continuous uninterrupted stream ofmedia content to the components of the media content presentation system104, such as the visual display device 108 and/or the audio presentationdevice 112, via the presentation device interface 128. Alternatively, oradditionally, the parsed out media content may be saved into the DVR 126for later presentation. The DVR 126 may be directly provided in, locallyconnected to, or remotely connected to, the media device 102. Inalternative embodiments, the media content streams 116 may stored forlater decompression, processing and/or decryption.

From time to time, information populating the EPG information 134portion of the memory 122 is communicated to the media device 102, viathe media content stream 116 or via another suitable media. The EPGinformation 134 stores the information pertaining to the scheduledprogramming of media content events. The information may include, but isnot limited to, a scheduled presentation start and/or end time, aprogram channel, and descriptive information. The media content event'sdescriptive information may include the title of the media contentevent, names of performers or actors, date of creation, and a summarydescribing the nature of the media content event. Any suitableinformation may be included in the supplemental information. Uponreceipt of a command from the user requesting presentation of an EPGmenu, the information in the EPG information 134 is retrieved,formatted, and then presented on the display 110 as an EPG menu 144.

The exemplary media device 102 is configured to receive commands from auser via a remote control 106. The remote control 106 includes one ormore controllers 140 disposed on the surface of the remote control 106.The user, by actuating one or more of the controllers 140, causes theremote control 106 to generate and transmit commands, via a wirelesssignal 142, to the media device 102. Preferably, each individual one ofthe controllers 140 has a specific predefined function that causes aspecific operation by the media device 102 and/or by components of themedia content presentation system 104. The commands communicated fromthe remote control 106 then control the media device 102 and/or controlcomponents of the media content presentation system 104. The wirelesssignal 142 may be an infrared (IR) signal or a radio frequency (RF)signal that is detectable by the remote interface 130.

The processes performed by the media device 102 relating to theprocessing of the received media content stream 116 and communication ofa presentable media content event to the components of the media contentpresentation system 104 are generally implemented by the processorsystem 120 while executing the media device logic 132. Thus, the mediadevice 102 may perform a variety of functions related to the processingand presentation of one or more media content events received in themedia content stream 116.

Typically, the received media content stream 116 includes at least onechannel of media content that is provided by a single media contentprovider. In a satellite-based or cable-based media content deliverysystem, each media content stream 116 includes multiple channels ofmedia content. A single channel provides, over a period of time, aseries of media content events. In practice, an identifier of aparticular channel is associated with a particular media contentprovider.

Channels are uniquely identified from other available channels of mediacontent using a predefined numeral and/or a predefined alpha-numericidentifier. The channel identifiers are preferably indicated on thepresented EPG menu 144. When a user selects a particular audio/visualcontent event of interest using the EPG menu 144, the media device 102identifies the audio/visual content event, based in part, upon thechannel identifier that identifies the channel that is providing theselected audio/visual content event of interest.

In situations where a particular channel is providing audio-onlycontent, the audio-only content channel may be associated with aparticular type of music, such as rock and roll, country, bluegrass,jazz, or the like. If a user is interested in listening to a particulartype of music, the user may select a particular channel having the typeof music of interest by specifying that particular channel's uniqueidentifier. Once the audio-only content channel has been selected, theseries of songs currently being broadcast are presented to the user asthe series of songs are being received at the media device 102 in theselected audio-only content stream.

FIG. 2 conceptually illustrates an example EPG menu 144 that indicates aplurality of channels of audio/visual content and a plurality ofchannels of audio-only content. The example EPG menu 144 is presented ona display device, such as the display 110, to assist a user to select aparticular media content event or channel of interest of interest. TheEPG menu 144 is a type of a user interface that presents a menu, or aseries of menus, with a combination of text and symbols to representviewing choices that may be selected by the user.

In the example EPG menu 144, programming channels are identified by asuitable identifier, such as the name of the programming station or thelike. Here, the seven channels are identified as stations A-G. The mediadevice 102 is configured to present programming that is provided by manydifferent programming channels, sometime even several hundreds ofdifferent programming channels. Accordingly, the user is able tonavigate about the current EPG menu 144 so as to be able to access mediacontent provided on one or more channels of interest.

Typically, the EPG menu 144 has the look and feel of a table withprogram information describing available media content events and/orchannels that are currently being broadcast to the media device 102 inthe available indicated channels. The information shown on the EPG menu144 may include the title of available audio/visual content type mediacontent events, along with the scheduled time and date of presentationof the audio/visual media content event. A brief description of theaudio/visual media content events may also be provided on the EPG menu144. The EPG menu 144 typically indicates the “channel” of the availablemedia content event. The channel identifies the originating source ofthe audio/visual media content event, such as a television studio, apremium movie provider, a national program provider, etc.

Here, the simplified EPG menu 144 illustrates four channels ofaudio/visual content and three channels of audio-only content. The threeaudio/visual content channels are identified as “Station A”, “StationB”, “Station C” and “Station D” in the example EPG menu 144. The threeaudio-only content channels are identified as “Station E”, “Station F”and as “Station G” in the example EPG menu 144. In other embodiments,the EPG menu 144 may alternatively, or additionally, identify availablechannels using their unique numeral identifiers.

Individual audio/visual media content events that are currentlyavailable are shown adjacent to the programming channel on which theyare available. For example, an audio/visual media content event with thetitle “Program A1” is currently available on the programming channelidentified as “Station A” (and so on). Thus, the user is able toappreciate which audio/visual media content events are currentlyavailable, or are available in the future, for viewing.

If the channel is an audio-only content type channel, the particulartype of music that the channel provides may be indicated on the EPG menu144. Because individual songs are relatively short, it is typically notpractical to identify individual songs on the EPG menu 144 as they arebeing broadcast and/or when are scheduled for broadcast. Rather, theparticular type of music provided by that channel is indicated on theEPG menu 144. For example, “Station E” provides jazz type music. Thus,the series of broadcast songs available from the channel “Station E” areappreciated to be jazz type songs. Similarly, “Station F” providescountry type music and “Station G” provides rock and roll type music.Any suitable descriptor may be used to identify and/or determinecharacteristics of songs available on an audio-only content channel.Further, the descriptor may be revised as needed if the characteristicsof the songs changes over time.

The EPG menu 144 is interactive with the user. The user, via theirremote control 106 that is in communication with a media device 102 isable to “scroll” or “navigate” about the EPG menu 144 to select a mediacontent event of interest and/or to select a particular channel ofinterest (thereby being presented the media content that is beingcurrently broadcast on that selected channel). When the user highlightsthe portion of the EPG menu 144 corresponding to a particularaudio/visual media content event of interest and/or a particular channelof interest, the user may actuate one or more controllers 140 of theremote control 106 to cause the media device 102 to perform a functionrelative to the selected media content event or channel of interest.

For example, if particular audio/visual media content event of interestis scheduled to begin, or is currently available, the user may selectthe audio/visual media content event of interest for immediatepresentation on the display 110 by navigating to the region of the EPGmenu 144 that indicates the media content event. One of the controllers140 on the remote control 106 is then actuated by the user to selectthat particular audio/visual media content event.

In response to the user selection, the tuner 118 a tunes itself toreceive the media content stream 116 having the channel associated withthe selected audio/visual media content event. The received mediacontent in the tuned-to channel is then processed and stored into theprogram buffer 124. The buffered audio/visual media content event isthen streamed out from the program buffer 124 to the components of themedia content presentation system 104 in a continuous and uninterruptedmanner. Alternatively, or additionally, the user may have the mediadevice record and store the audio/visual media content event in amemory, such as the example DVR 126, such that the user may later viewthe selected audio/visual media content event at a more convenient time.

In the event that the user selects one of the audio-only contentchannels, the tuner 118 a tunes itself to receive the media contentstream 116 having the audio-only content. The received songs of theaudio-only content in the tuned-to audio-only content channel is thenprocessed and stored into the program buffer 124. The series ofindividual songs are then serially streamed out from the program buffer124 to the components of the media content presentation system 104 in acontinuous and uninterrupted manner.

When an audio/visual media content event is being presented, varioustrick function operations to control presentation of the audio/visualcontent are available to the user, typically via commands initiatedthrough user actuation of one or more of the controllers 140 on theremote control 106. For example, a fast forward controller 140 a(indicated by right pointing double arrows) is intuitively understood bythe user to correspond to a fast forward operation wherein speed ofpresentation of the video portion is advanced by some predefined speedincrement if actuated by the user. Subsequent actuation of that fastforward controller 140 a, or actuation of another one of the controllers140, ends the fast forward operation so that presentation of the videoportion resumes at its normal presentation speed. Similarly, the fastrewind controller 140 b (indicated by left pointing double arrows) isintuitively understood by the user to correspond to a fast rewindoperation wherein speed of presentation of the video portion is reversedby some predefined speed increment if actuated by the user. Subsequentactuation of that fast rewind controller 140 b, or actuation of anotherone of the controllers 140, ends the fast rewind operation so thatpresentation of the video portion resumes at its normal presentationspeed. Here, buffered video content is accessed from the program buffer124 at a rate and direction corresponding to the user selected fastforward or fast rewind operation. Some embodiments may provide foradjustable fast forward or fast rewind speeds using one or more of thecontrollers 140.

During the fast forward and/or fast rewind operations, presentation ofthe audio content is halted (muted). That is, because the audio contentif presented at the fast forward or fast rewind speeds would beunintelligible to the user, the audio is simply muted during thoseoperations. Accordingly, if the user is listening to songs presented byan audio-only content channel, the fast forward controller 140 a willnot be particularly effective for the user to get through to the end ofthe currently presented song and advance to the beginning of the nextsong since there is no audio output during this fast forward operation(or, if there is audio output during the fast forward operation, theaudio output is generally unintelligible to the user). Similarly, fastrewind controller 140 b will not be particularly effective for the userto return to the beginning of the currently presented song and/or to thebeginning of a previously presented song using this fast rewindoperation (or, if there is audio output during the fast forwardoperation, the audio output is generally unintelligible to the user).

Another example audio/visual media content event presentation operationis a jump forward operation. For example, a jump forward controller 140c (indicated by an upward pointing arrow) is intuitively understood bythe user to correspond to a jump forward operation wherein presentationof the video portion is advanced by some predefined duration orincrement when the associated controller 140 c is actuated by the user.Similarly, the jump backward controller 140 d (indicated by a downwardpointing arrow) is intuitively understood by the user to correspond to ajump backward operation wherein presentation of the video portion isadvanced by some predefined duration or increment when the controller140 d is actuated by the user. The amount of the forward jump or reversejump may be based on a predefined duration (period of time).

Alternatively, or additionally, some audio/visual content will includetriggers, markers, or the like that are used to index the jump forwardor jump backward to a predefined point in the audio/visual content. Forexample, but not limited to, scene index triggers may be included in theaudio/visual media content event at the end and/or beginning of keyscenes. In response to actuation of the controller 140 c, presentationof the video content immediately advances (jumps forward) to the indexedscene having the next scene index trigger (presuming that a sufficientamount of the audio/visual media content event has been previouslystored in the program buffer 124 to support the requested jump forwardoperation).

During the jump forward and jump rewind operations, presentation of theaudio content is discontinued. That is, because the video content isadvanced or retarded by some predefined duration (or to a particularscene index trigger), the corresponding audio must be advanced orretarded by the same amount so that the presentation of the audiocontent remains synchronized with presentation of the video content.

When the user is listening to songs presented by an audio-only contentchannel, the jump forward controller 140 c will not be particularlyeffective for the user to get through the currently presented song andto the beginning of the next song since the duration of the jump forwardchange is likely not the same as the remaining duration of the currentlypresented song. Accordingly, the end of the currently presented song maynot be reached with a single jump forward operation, or alternatively,the beginning of the next song may be missed as the jump operationadvances presentation by the predefined duration that exceeds theremaining duration of the currently presented song. Similarly, jumpbackward controller 140 d will not be particularly effective for theuser to return to the beginning of the currently presented song and/orto the beginning of the previously presented song with this jumpbackward operation since the duration of the jump backward change islikely not the same as the initial duration of the currently presentedsong.

Embodiments of the audio content presentation system 100 are configuredto provide audio/visual content based control of the buffered string ofsongs so that the user may selective jump forward to the beginning ofthe next song (defined herein as the skip track forward operation), jumpbackward to the beginning of the currently presented song (definedherein as a return to song beginning operation), and/or jump furtherbackward to the beginning of a previously presented song (defined hereinas a skip track backward operation). These audio-only content typeoperations are provided by embodiments of the audio content presentationsystem 100 based upon a determination of whether the currently presentedmedia content is audio-only content or is audio/visual content.

When an audio/visual content channel is currently selected forpresentation, embodiments operate in accordance with well understoodvideo presentation operations. For example, the fast forward controller140 a and the fast rewind controller 140 b control fast forward and fastrewind presentation of the currently presented audio/visual mediacontent event. The jump forward controller 140 c and the jump backwardcontroller 140 d control incremental jumps in the presentation of theaudio/visual media content event.

However, when an audio-only content channel is currently selected forpresentation, embodiments operate in accordance with the audiopresentation operations. That is, upon determination that songs from anaudio-only content channel are being presented, operations for songpresentation are enabled (such as the skip track forward operation thatadvances song presentation to the beginning of the next song in theprogram buffer 124, the return to song beginning operation the returnsto the beginning of the currently presented song, and the skip trackbackward operation that returns presentation to the beginning of thepreviously presented song).

In a non-limiting example embodiment, the audio content presentationsystem 100 determines whether the media content of a current channel isaudio/visual content or audio-only content based on the configuration ofthe current operation of the tuner 118 a. Here, the processor system 120controlling operation of the tuner 118 a has already received the userspecification for a particular channel. The identifying informationassociated with the user specified channel is used by the processorsystem 102, executing the audio control logic, to determine whether thecurrent channel is an audio-only content channel or an audio/visualcontent channel.

In this example embodiment, the identifying information for audio-onlycontent channels and/or for audio/visual content channels is stored inthe channel identifier database 138. The channel identifier database 138includes a listing of a plurality of channels available for access bythe media device 102, and for each listed channel, includes informationthat identifies whether that associated channel is an audio-only contentchannel or an audio/visual content channel.

The identifying information of the currently presented channel that thetuner 118 a is currently receiving is compared with the identifiersstored in the channel identifier database 138. When a match between theidentifying information of the currently presented channel is found withone of the identifiers stored in the channel identifier database 138,the determination whether the media content of a current channel isaudio/visual content or audio-only content based on the correspondinginformation for the matched channel.

Alternatively, or additionally, embodiments may determine whether themedia content of a current channel is audio/visual content or audio-onlycontent based on information in the received media content stream 116.In an example embodiment, the metadata of a stream of media contentincludes, at least periodically, information that identifies thechannel. Once the information identifying the current channel isreceived in information residing in the media content stream 116, thechannel identifier database 138 can be accessed as described above todetermine whether the media content of the current channel isaudio/visual content or audio-only content.

Alternatively, or additionally, embodiments may determine whether themedia content of a current channel is audio/visual content or audio-onlycontent based on characteristics of the media content stream. In anexample embodiment, an absence of video content is interpreted as anindication that the currently presented channel is an audio-only contentchannel. Alternatively, or additionally, presence of relatively complexvideo data may be interpreted as an indication that the currentlypresented channel is an audio/visual content channel. Embodiments of theaudio content presentation system 100 may analyze one or morecharacteristics of present video content. For example, video data havingfew moving edges, slow moving edges, and/or large durations of blackscreen data (or another colored background screen) may be interpreted asan indication that the currently presented channel is an audio-onlycontent channel. Still images and/or very slow moving images in thevideo content may be interpreted as an indication that the currentlypresented channel is an audio-only content channel. Here, the processorsystem 120 may determine the number, speed, and/or direction of movementvectors and/or may determine other characteristics (such as black orcolored screen data, or even identify one or more still images) of thevideo information.

Alternatively, or additionally, the video content may be comprised of aserially sequenced plurality of video frames that comprise differentframe types, such as an I-frame (intra coded frame or slice), a P-frame(predicted frame of slice) and a B-frame bi-directional predicted frameor slice), that are compressible to different degrees. The I-frame isthe least compressible but don't require other video frames to decode.The P-frame may use data from previous I-frames to decompress and aremore compressible than an I-frame. The B-frame can use both previous andforward frames for data reference to get the highest amount of datacompression. In contrast, any video content (if present) in audio-onlytype content may be different from the above described frames used incompression of audio/visual content. Thus, the determination of whetherthe media content of a current channel is audio/visual content oraudio-only content may be based on one or more characteristics of thevideo data, if present.

Alternatively, or additionally, comparison between newly receivedI-frames, P-frames, and/or B-frames may be made with previously receivedI-frames, P-frames, and/or B-frames. If the frames are significantlychanged from each other, this may be interpreted as an indication thatthe currently presented channel is an audio/visual content channel. Incontrast, if the frames have not changed, or have not significantlychanged from each other, this may be interpreted as an indication thatthe currently presented channel is an audio-only content channel.

Alternatively, or additionally, embodiments may evaluate the metadatathat is included in the media content stream 116. Metadata or othercontrol information for the songs received in an audio-only contentstream is quite different from metadata for received audio/visualcontent. Metadata of audio-only content is typically limited toinformation such as the artist's name, the song title, the album name,the song label, the song recording date, etc. Further, while a song isbeing played, the metadata or other control information typicallyremains constant. That is, the artist's name, the song title, the albumname, the song label, the song recording date, etc.) relating to thecurrently presented song remains the same until that song concludes.Such information in the metadata may be interpreted as an indicationthat the currently presented channel is an audio-only content channel.In contrast, metadata for audio/visual content may include informationthat is not typically related to a song. For example, the metadata of anaudio/visual media content event may indicate a scene identifier, actornames, scene filming locations, etc. Thus, the contents of the metadataor other control information may be interpreted as an indication thatthe currently presented channel is an audio-only content channel.

Alternatively, or additionally, the user's navigation about a presentedEPG menu 144 may be used to determine whether the media content of acurrent channel is audio/visual content or audio-only content. The userselects media content of interest via the presented EPG menu 144. Whenthe user selects a particular channel, media content event, or the likeusing their remote control 106, the processor system must determineprecisely which channel of media content event the user has intended toselect so that the processor system 120 may properly operate the tuner118 a to access the correct channel that is providing the specifiedmedia content of interest. When the user makes a selection via thepresented EPG menu 144, the processor system can compare theuser-selected channel or media content event with the information in thechannel identifier database 138 to determine whether the received mediacontent of the current channel is audio/visual content or audio-onlycontent.

Alternatively, or additionally, embodiments may determine whether themedia content of a current channel is audio/visual content or audio-onlycontent based on which of controllers 140 of the remote control 106 theuser has recently actuated. For example, a channel up (increment) orchannel down (decrement) operation initiated in response to useractuation of one of the controllers 140 may be used to determine whetherthe media content of a current channel is audio/visual content oraudio-only content. For example, if the media device 102 is currentlypresenting Channel 101, and the user actuates the channel up actuator tochange the channel to Channel 102, the identity of this new channel(here, Channel 102) is inherently determinable by the processor system120 since information about the Channel 102 is stored in the channelidentifier database 138.

In the various embodiments, any one or more of the above described meansof determining whether the media content of a current channel isaudio/visual content or audio-only content may be employed. Inembodiments that employ multiple means making of a determination ofwhether the currently presented media content is audio-only content oris audio/visual content, such embodiments improve the reliability ofmaking the correct determination, and subsequently automaticallyimplementing either the audio/visual content control functions or theaudio-only content control functions described herein.

When the current channel is determined to be providing audio-onlycontent, one or more control functions of the media device 102 aremodified to be more appropriate for management of song presentation.That is, embodiments of the audio content presentation system 100automatically implement either the audio/visual content controlfunctions or the audio-only content control functions described herein.For example, the example skip track forward operation, the return tosong beginning operation, and/or skip track backward operation becomeenabled when audio-only content is identified. Alternatively, oradditionally, the fast forward, fast rewind, jump forward, and/or jumpbackward operations are disabled (since the audio-only content does notinclude, or has minimal, video content) when audio-only content isidentified. When the media device 102 later changes from the audio-onlycontent channel to an audio/visual content channel, the song skip trackforward and/or song skip track backward functions become disabled, andthe fast forward, fast rewind, jump forward, and/or jump backwardoperations are then enabled.

After the current channel is determined to be providing audio-onlycontent, the beginning of the next song must be identified and/ordetermined when the example skip track forward operation is received.Additionally, the beginning of the current song must be identifiedand/or determined when the return to song beginning operation isreceived. And, the beginning of the previously presented song must beidentified and/or determined when the skip track backward operation isreceived.

The end of a currently played song, the beginning of a currently playedsong, and/or the beginning of the next song, may be identified and/ordetermined in a variety of manners by the various embodiments of theaudio content presentation system 100. Alternatively, or additionally,transitions from the currently presented song to the next presented songmay be identified and/or determined by embodiments of the audio contentpresentation system 100.

The beginning of a song, the end of a song, and/or a transition betweensongs may be determined based on an analysis of the metadata of theaudio-only content. The audio-only content metadata identified, for eachparticular song in the audio-only content stream, information that isunique to that particular song. For example, the metadata may includethe artist's name, the song title, the album name, the song label, thesong recording date for each individual song. Embodiments of the audiocontent presentation system 100 monitor the stream of meta data anddetermine one or more of the artist's name, the song title, the albumname, the song label, the song recording date of the currently playedsong. When the artist's name, the song title, the album name, the songlabel, the song recording date changes in the monitored metadata, theend of a currently played song is identified and/or determined.Alternatively, when the artist's name, the song title, the album name,the song label, the song recording date changes in the monitoredmetadata, the beginning of the next song may be identified and/ordetermined. Similarly, a change in the monitored metadata may be used toidentify a transition between songs.

Other methods and/or information may be used to identify and/ordetermine the beginning of a song, the end of a song, and/or atransition between songs. For example, video information may graphicallydepict the artist's name, the song title, the album name, the songlabel, the song recording date of a currently played song, which isindicated using text in an image that is presented on the display 110.Text identification algorithms may be employed to determine text fromthe image data. Then, changes in the text may be used to identify and/ordetermine the beginning of a song, the end of a song, and/or atransition between songs.

If image information is present in the audio-only content,characteristics of the image may be analyzed to identify and/ordetermine the beginning of a song, the end of a song, and/or atransition between songs. For example, I-frames, P-frames, and/orB-frames may be analyzed as described herein. For example, if a singleI-frame, or a plurality of substantially similar I-frames, arepresenting a still image on the display 110 during the current song, andthen a different still image becomes displayed when the next song isplayed, the a transition in I-frames of the current song to the I-framesof the next song can be used to identify the beginning of the next song,the end of the current song, and/or a transition between songs becausethe I-frames are substantially different.

Changes in background color of an image presented on the display 110 maybe used to identify and/or determine the beginning of a song, the end ofa song, and/or a transition between songs. Changes from a currentlypresented still image to a different still image may be used to identifyand/or determine the beginning of a song, the end of a song, and/or atransition between songs.

The stream of audio-only content data may include embedded triggers,markers, or the like to signal the beginning of a song, the end of asong, and/or a transition between songs. When these triggers, markers,or the like are detected in the processed stream of audio-only content,the beginning of a song, the end of a song, and/or a transition betweensongs may be identified and/or determined.

The identification of the song beginning, song end, and or songtransition is used to support the example skip track forward operation,the return to song beginning operation, and/or skip track backwardoperation. For example, when a skip track forward operation is received,the content of the program buffer 124 is accessed to identify or todetermine the end of the currently played song. Then, the beginning ofthe next song may be accessed from the program buffer 124, and thenstreamed out to the components of the media content presentation system104 so that the next song is presented from its beginning.

Alternatively, when the skip track forward operation is received, thecontent of the program buffer 124 is accessed to identify or todetermine the beginning of the next song. Then, the beginning of thenext song may be accessed from the program buffer 124, and then streamedout to the components of the media content presentation system 104 sothat the next song is presented from its beginning.

When a return to song beginning operation is received, the content ofthe program buffer 124 is accessed to identify or to determine thebeginning of the currently played song. Then, the beginning of thecurrently played song may be accessed from the program buffer 124, andthen streamed out to the components of the media content presentationsystem 104 so that the song is presented from its beginning.

Alternatively, when a return to song beginning operation is received,the content of the program buffer 124 is accessed to identify or todetermine the end of the previously played song. Then, the beginning ofthe currently played song may be accessed from the program buffer 124,and then streamed out to the components of the media contentpresentation system 104 so that the song is presented from itsbeginning.

When a skip track backward operation is received, the contents of theprogram buffer 124 is accessed to identify or to determine the beginningof the previously played song. Then, the beginning of the previous songmay be accessed from the program buffer 124, and then streamed out tothe components of the media content presentation system 104 so that theprevious song is presented from its beginning.

In the various embodiments of the audio content presentation system 100,user control of presented audio/visual content and audio-only content isprovided in the commands communicated from the remote control 106. Theremote control 106 includes a plurality of different controllers 140disposed on the surface of the remote control 106. The user, byactuating one or more of the controllers 140, causes the remote control106 to generate and transmit commands, via a wireless signal 142, to themedia device 102. In the various embodiments of the audio contentpresentation system 100, each individual one of the controllers 140 hasa specific predefined function that causes a specific operation by themedia device 102 and/or by components of the media content presentationsystem 104 based on whether the currently presented media content isaudio/visual content or is audio-only content. That is, a singlecontroller 140 may optionally have a particular predefined function whenthe currently presented media content is audio/visual content, and havea different particular predefined function when the currently presentedmedia content is audio-only content.

For example, the fast forward controller 140 a (indicated by rightpointing double arrows) is intuitively understood by the user tocorrespond to a fast forward operation when audio/visual content isbeing presented. However, when audio-only content is being presented,the function of the fast forward controller 140 a is changed tocorrespond to a skip track forward operation.

As another example, the fast rewind controller 140 b (indicated by leftpointing double arrows) is intuitively understood by the user tocorrespond to a fast rewind operation when audio/visual content is beingpresented. However, when audio-only content is being presented, thefunction of the fast rewind controller is changed to correspond to askip track backward operation.

Alternatively, or additionally, the jump forward controller 140 c(indicated by an upward pointing arrow) is intuitively understood by theuser to correspond to a jump forward operation when audio/visual contentis being presented. However, the jump forward controller 140 c may bechanged to correspond to a particular audio-only content controlfunctions, such as the skip track forward operation.

Alternatively, or additionally, the jump backward controller 140 d(indicated by a downward pointing arrow) is intuitively understood bythe user to correspond to a jump backward operation when audio/visualcontent is being presented. However, the jump backward controller 140 dmay be changed to correspond to a skip track backward operation whenaudio-only content is being presented. Alternatively, the jump backwardcontroller 140 d may be changed to correspond to a return to songbeginning operation when audio-only content is being presented.

Other controllers may have the same functionality regardless of whetheraudio/visual content or audio-only content is being presented. Forexample, the controller 140 e (indicated by two parallel upward orientedbars) is intuitively understood by the user to correspond to a pausefunction. Accordingly, if the user actuates the controller 140 e,presentation of the video and audio portion of audio/visual content ispaused when audio/visual content is being presented. Similarly, if theuser actuates the controller 140 e, presentation of the currentlypresented song is paused when audio-only content is being presented.

In some embodiments, a selected controller 140 may be assigned aparticular function when audio-only content is being presented. Forexample, the controller 140 f may be assigned to the return to songbeginning operation. Thus, when controller 140 e is actuated by theuser, presentation returns to the beginning of a currently played song.

In some embodiments, the change in functions of the controllers 140 maybe an optional feature that is selectable by the user. A configurationmenu or the like may be presented on the display 110 that permits theuser to place the audio content presentation system 100 in a modewherein functions of the controllers 140 are automatically changeddepending on whether audio/visual content or audio-only content iscurrently be presented.

In some embodiments, intervening non-musical segments may be locatedbetween songs, such as an intervening advertisement, commentary fromshow hosts, a news report, or the like. The user may not wish to listento such intervening non-musical segments. Accordingly, some embodimentsof the audio content presentation system 100 may be optionallyconfigured to automatically skip over the intervening non-musicalsegments when the user actuates one of the controllers 140. For example,when the user actuates the controller 140 a to cause a skip trackforward operation, the next song is played from its beginning. In theevent that one or more intervening non-musical segments preceded thenext song in the stream of buffered audio-only content, such interveningnon-musical segments would be automatically skipped over and not played.

However, in some situations, the intervening non-musical segments may beof interest to the user. For example, the intervening non-musicalsegment may be interesting commentary information spoken by a show hostor may be an interesting newscast segment. In an example embodiment, oneof the controllers 140 may be configured to omit presentation of suchintervening non-musical segments, and a different controller may beconfigured to present such intervening non-musical segments.

For example, the controller 140 a may be assigned the skip track forwardoperation with permitted presentation of the intervening non-musicalsegments following the currently presented song. If the user actuatesthe controller 140 a, the end portion of the currently presented song isskipped, and presentation of the audio-only content resumes after theend of the currently presented song (which will either be one of theintervening non-musical segments or the next song). On the other hand,the controller 140 c may be assigned the skip track forward operationdirectly to the next song, wherein intervening non-musical segments arealso automatically skipped over. Thus, actuation of the controller 140 cautomatically skips over the end of the end portion of the currentlypresented song and any intervening non-musical segments, and resumes atthe beginning of the next song.

As another non-limiting example, the controller 140 b may be assignedthe skip track backward operation with permitted presentation of theintervening non-musical segments following the currently presented song.If the user actuates the controller 140 b, play back begins at thebeginning of the previously played song, or at the beginning of anyintervening non-musical segments if present in the buffered audio-onlycontent. On the other hand, the controller 140 d may be assigned theskip track forward operation directly to the previously played song,wherein intervening non-musical segments are also automatically skippedover.

In some embodiments, metadata or other control information may beprovided to the media device 102 using different formats or media. Forexample, the metadata for an audio-only content channel may becommunicated similar to, or even with, communicated EPG information.Timing information in such metadata may be used to identify and/ordetermine the beginning of a song, the ending of a song, and/ortransitions between songs. Such separately provided metadata may bestored in the EPG information 134 portion of memory 122, or may beseparately stored as a table or the like in the memory 122 or othersuitable memory medium.

In some embodiments, information that uniquely differentiates audio-onlycontent from audio/visual content may be used to make a determination ofwhether the currently presented media content is audio-only content oris audio/visual content. For example, a database or the like comprisinga list of music recording artists and/or song titles may be separatelycompiled. Information in the received media content stream may bemonitored to determine if one or more of the music recorded artistsand/or titles are identified in the database. If the media contentincludes information, such as in the received metadata, corresponding tothe stored listing of music recording artists and/or titles, then thereceived media content stream may be determined to be audio-onlycontent. Such lists may be stored as part of the channel ID database 138or may be stored separately in another suitable database and/or memorymedium.

Some embodiments are configured to automatically skip over interveningnon-musical segments. In such an example embodiment, the metadata couldbe monitored. For example, the metadata information may be compared tothe database with information pertaining to songs. If the monitoredmetadata does not include information related to a known song, then theembodiment can assume that an intervening non-musical segment has beenidentified, and then may be skipped over.

In alternative embodiments, the processed stream of audio-only contentmay be stored in another medium, such as the example DVR 126. When songsfrom the previously stored audio-only content are retrieved andpresented from the DVR 126 or the like, embodiments of the audio contentpresentation system 100 may similarly implement audio-only controlfunctions as described herein.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the audio contentpresentation system 100 implemented in a remote control 106. The remotecontrol 106 comprises a processor system 302, a memory 304, themicrophone 232, and the transceiver 306. The memory 304 comprisesportions for storing the remote control logic 308 and the audio controllogic 310. In some embodiments, the remote control logic 308 and theaudio control logic 310 may be integrated together, and/or may beintegrated with other logic. In other embodiments, some or all of thesememory and other data manipulation functions may be provided by andusing remote server or other electronic devices suitably connected viathe Internet or otherwise to a client device. Other remote controls 106may include some, or may omit some, of the above-described mediaprocessing components. Further, additional components not describedherein may be included in alternative embodiments.

The remote control logic 308 manages processing of user inputs receivedby one or more of the controllers 104, and manages generation andcommunication of associated control information based on whether thecurrently presented media content is audio-only content or isaudio/visual content. The control information is communicated in thewireless signal 142 (FIG. 1) emitted by the transceiver 306. The controlinformation can be specifically encoded with particular control commandsbased on a determination of whether the currently presented mediacontent is audio-only content or is audio/visual content.

An example embodiment of the remote control 106 may be configured as auniversal type of remote control device that may operate a legacy mediadevice 102 and/or legacy components of the media content presentationsystem 104. When audio/visual content is determined and/or identified atthe remote control 106, then audio/visual content specific commands canbe directly issued by the remote control 106. When audio-only content isdetermined and/or identified, then audio-only content specific commandsmay be directly issued by the remote control 106.

In some embodiments, the remote control may include a display 110 or thelike wherein the EPG menu 144 is presented. As the user navigates aboutthe presented EPG menu 144 using the remote control 106, the remotecontrol can make the a determination of whether the currently presentedmedia content is audio-only content or is audio/visual content.

In some situations, the user may directly specify a channel by actuatinga series of controllers that are associated with numerals. For example,the user may actuate the controllers associated with the numerals 1, 2,and 3, thereby specifying that the media device 102 tune to “Channel123” and then present that media content currently being broadcast bythat particular channel. The processor system 302 can compare thespecified channel identifier with the channel identifiers in the channelidentifier database 138, which may be stored locally in the remotecontrol 106 and/or which may be stored remotely from the remote control106. When a channel match is found, the remote control 106 can make thedetermination of whether the currently presented media content isaudio-only content or is audio/visual content.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of theaudio content presentation system 100 are merely possible examples ofimplementations of the invention. Many variations and modifications maybe made to the above-described embodiments. All such modifications andvariations are intended to be included herein within the scope of thisdisclosure and protected by the following claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for presentation control of mediacontent, the method comprising: receiving, at a media device, abroadcasting media content stream containing the media content; storingthe received media content in a program buffer of the media device,wherein the program buffer temporarily stores the received mediacontent; communicating the media content stored in the program bufferfrom the media device to a media presentation device, wherein the mediacontent is presented to a user; analyzing one of the currentlypresenting media content and electronic program guide (EPG) informationto identify one of a first characteristic and a second characteristic ofthe currently presenting media content, wherein the first characteristicis associated with audio/visual content and the second characteristic isassociated with audio-only content; determining, based on the identifiedone of the first characteristic and the second characteristic, whetherthe currently presenting media content provides audio/visual content orprovides audio-only content, wherein the audio-only content is a seriesof a plurality of songs in the received media content; and receiving acommand from a remote control that is being used by the user, whereinthe command is received after determining whether the currentlypresenting media content provides audio/visual content or audio-onlycontent, wherein the command is initiated in response to the useractuation of a predefined controller of the remote control, wherein thepredefined controller is one of a plurality of predefined controllers ofthe remote control, wherein the predefined controller is concurrentlyassigned with a first function that controls presentation of only theaudio/visual content and a second function that controls presentation ofonly the audio-only content, and wherein the other ones of thepredefined controllers are each concurrently assigned a first uniquefunction that controls presentation of only the audio/visual content anda second unique function that controls presentation of only theaudio-only content; wherein presentation of the currently presentingmedia content is controlled using the first function in response toreceiving the command from the remote control when the media device hasdetermined that the currently presenting media content providesaudio/visual content, wherein presentation of the currently presentingmedia content is controlled using the second function in response toreceiving the command from the remote control when the media device hasdetermined that the currently presenting media content providesaudio-only content, and wherein the first function that controlspresentation of audio/visual content is different from the secondfunction that controls presentation of audio-only content.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein a currently playing song is being accessed from theprogram buffer, wherein at least a beginning of a next song has beenstored in the program buffer, and wherein controlling presentation ofthe audio-only content using the second function comprises: performing askip track forward operation that advances presentation from thecurrently presenting song to the beginning of the next song in responseto receiving the command from the remote control.
 3. The method of claim1, wherein at least a beginning of a previously received song has beenstored in the program buffer, and wherein controlling presentation ofthe audio-only content using the second function comprises: performing askip track backward operation that rewinds presentation from a currentlypresenting song to the previously received song in response to receivingthe command from the remote control.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereinat least a beginning of a currently presenting song has been stored inthe program buffer, and wherein controlling presentation of theaudio-only content using the second function comprises: performing areturn to song beginning operation that returns presentation of thecurrently presenting song to the beginning of the currently presentingsong in response to receiving the command from the remote control. 5.The method of claim 1, further comprising: setting the first functionthat controls presentation of only the audio/visual content to thepredefined controller in response to determining that the currentlypresenting media content provides the audio/visual content; and settingthe second function that controls presentation of only the audio-onlycontent to the predefined controller in response to determining that thecurrently presenting media content provides the audio-only content. 6.The method of claim 1, wherein the first function is inoperable tocontrol presentation of the audio-only content, and wherein the secondfunction is inoperable to control presentation of the audio/visualcontent.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the audio-only contentincludes audio information corresponding to a particular song that iscurrently being presented from at least one speaker that is controlledby the media device, wherein the audio-only content further includesimage information that is currently being presented on at least onedisplay that is controlled by the media device, wherein the imageinformation of the audio-only content that indicates the title of theparticular song and the artist performing the particular song, andwherein analyzing the currently presenting media content to identify oneof a first characteristic and a second characteristic of the currentlypresenting media content further comprises: identifying the title of theaudio-only content from the image information to determine that thesecond characteristic is associated with the audio-only content.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the audio-only content includes audioinformation corresponding to a particular song that is currently beingpresented from at least one speaker that is controlled by the mediadevice, wherein the audio-only content further includes imageinformation that is currently being presented on at least one displaythat is controlled by the media device, and wherein the imageinformation of the audio-only content presents at least one image of atleast one artist who is performing the particular song, and whereinanalyzing the currently presenting media content to identify one of afirst characteristic and a second characteristic of the currentlypresenting media content further comprises: identifying the one artistwho is performing the particular song from the image information todetermine that the second characteristic is associated with theaudio-only content.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein determiningwhether the currently presenting media content provides audio/visualcontent or provides audio content comprises: accessing electronicprogram guide information that has been stored on a memory of the mediadevice, wherein the EPG information includes a list of channels that areaccessible by the media device, and wherein for each one of the channelslisted in the EPG information, each channel includes a descriptor thatdescribes the media content that is currently in the stream of mediacontent of that particular channel; and analyzing the descriptor of acurrently presenting channel listed in the EPG information to determinewhether the currently received channel provides audio/visual content orprovides audio-only content, wherein the audio/visual content isdetermined when the descriptor corresponds to the first characteristicthat is associated with audio/visual type media content, and wherein theaudio-only content is determined when the descriptor corresponds to thesecond characteristic that is associated with audio-only type mediacontent.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the command received fromthe remote control is a first command, and further comprising:presenting an electronic program guide (EPG) on a display that iscontrolled by the media device, wherein the EPG information includes alist of channels that are accessible by the media device, and whereinfor each one of the channels listed in the EPG information, each channelincludes a descriptor that describes the media content that is currentlyin the stream of media content of that particular channel; receiving asecond command from the remote control after presenting the EPG on thedisplay, wherein the a channel indicated on the EPG is selected forpresentation based on the received command; analyzing the descriptor ofthe selected channel listed on the EPG to determine whether the selectedchannel provides audio/visual content or provides audio-only content,wherein the audio/visual content is determined when the descriptorcorresponds to the first characteristic that is associated withaudio/visual type media content, and wherein the audio-only content isdetermined when the descriptor corresponds to the second characteristicthat is associated with audio-only type media content; setting the firstfunction that controls presentation of only the audio/visual content tothe predefined controller in response to determining that the selectedchannel provides the audio/visual content; and setting the secondfunction that controls presentation of only the audio-only content tothe predefined controller in response to determining that the selectedchannel provides the audio-only content.
 11. The method of claim 1,wherein the command received from the remote control is a first command,and further comprising: receiving at least one second command from theremote control that corresponds to a selection of a numeral thatspecifies a channel that the media device is to tune to; analyzing adescriptor of the selected channel listed in electronic program guideinformation to determine whether the specified channel providesaudio/visual content or provides audio-only content, wherein theaudio/visual content is determined when the descriptor corresponds tothe first characteristic that is associated with audio/visual type mediacontent, and wherein the audio-only content is determined when thedescriptor corresponds to the second characteristic that is associatedwith audio-only type media content, setting the first function thatcontrols presentation of only the audio/visual content to the predefinedcontroller in response to determining that the selected channel providesthe audio/visual content; and setting the second function that controlspresentation of only the audio-only content to the predefined controllerin response to determining that the selected channel provides theaudio-only content.
 12. A media device that controls presentation ofmedia content, comprising: a tuner that receives a broadcasting mediacontent stream containing the media content; a program buffer thattemporarily stores the received media content; a processor system that:accesses the media content stored in the program buffer; communicatesthe accessed media content to a media presentation device such that thecommunicated media content is currently presented to a user; analyzesone of the currently presenting media content and electronic programguide (EPG) information to identify one of a first characteristic and asecond characteristic of the currently presenting media contentdetermines, based on the identified one of the first characteristic andthe second characteristic, whether the currently presenting mediacontent provides audio/visual content or provides audio-only content,wherein the audio-only content is a series of a plurality of songs inthe currently presenting media content; a remote interface that receivesa command from a remote control that is being used by the user, whereinthe command is received after determining whether the currentlypresenting media content provides audio/visual content or audio-onlycontent, and wherein the command is initiated in response to the useractuation of a predefined controller of the remote control, wherein thepredefined controller is one of a plurality of predefined controllers ofthe remote control, wherein the predefined controller is concurrentlyassigned with a first function that controls presentation of only theaudio/visual content and a second function that controls presentation ofonly the audio-only content, and wherein the other ones of thepredefined controllers are each concurrently assigned with a firstunique function that controls presentation of only the audio/visualcontent and a second unique function that controls presentation of onlythe audio-only content; wherein after the command is received, theprocessor system is further operable to: control presentation of thecurrently presenting media content by performing the first function onthe media content residing in the program buffer in response todetermining that the media content provides audio/visual content; andcontrol presentation of the currently presenting media content byperforming the second function on the media content residing in theprogram buffer in response to determining that the media contentprovides audio-only content, wherein the first function that controlspresentation of audio/visual content is different from the secondfunction that controls presentation of audio-only content, and whereinthe first function is inoperable to control presentation of theaudio-only content, and wherein the second function is inoperable tocontrol presentation of the audio/visual content.
 13. The media deviceof claim 12: wherein a currently playing song is being accessed from theprogram buffer, wherein at least a beginning of a next song has beenstored in the program buffer, and wherein the processor system thatcontrols presentation of the audio-only content using the secondfunction, wherein the second function performs a skip track forwardoperation that advances presentation from the currently presenting songto the beginning of the next song in response to receiving the commandfrom the remote control.
 14. The media device of claim 12, furthercomprising: wherein at least a beginning of a previously received songhas been stored in the program buffer, wherein the processor system thatcontrols presentation of the audio-only content using the secondfunction, and wherein the second function performs a skip track backwardoperation that rewinds presentation from a currently presenting song tothe previously received song in response to receiving the command fromthe remote control.
 15. The media device of claim 12, furthercomprising: wherein at least a beginning of a currently presenting songhas been stored in the program buffer, wherein the processor system thatcontrols presentation of the audio-only content using the secondfunction, and wherein the second function performs a return to songbeginning operation that returns presentation of the currentlypresenting song to the beginning of the currently presenting song inresponse to receiving the command from the remote control.
 16. The mediadevice of claim 12, wherein the processor system is further operable to:set the first function that controls presentation of only theaudio/visual content to the predefined controller in response todetermining that the currently presenting media content provides theaudio/visual content; and set the second function that controlspresentation of only the audio-only content to the predefined controllerin response to determining that the currently presenting media contentprovides the audio-only content.
 17. The media device of claim 12,wherein the audio-only content includes audio information correspondingto a particular song that is currently being presented from at least onespeaker that is controlled by the media device, wherein the audio-onlycontent further includes image information that is currently beingpresented on at least one display that is controlled by the mediadevice, and wherein the image information of the audio-only content thatindicates the title of the particular song and the artist performing theparticular song.
 18. The media device of claim 12, wherein theaudio-only content includes audio information corresponding to aparticular song that is currently being presented from at least onespeaker that is controlled by the media device, wherein the audio-onlycontent further includes image information that is currently beingpresented on at least one display that is controlled by the mediadevice, and wherein the image information of the audio-only contentpresents at least one image of at least one artist who is performing theparticular song.
 19. The media device of claim 12, wherein the commandreceived from the remote control is a first command, and furthercomprising: a memory that stores electronic program guide (EPG)information, wherein the processor system is further operable to:retrieve the EPG information from the memory; present an electronicprogram guide (EPG) on a display that is controlled by the media device,wherein the EPG information includes a list of channels that areaccessible by the media device, and wherein for each one of the channelslisted in the EPG information, each channel includes a descriptor thatdescribes the media content that is currently in the stream of mediacontent of that particular channel; receive a second command from theremote control after presenting the EPG on the display, wherein the achannel indicated on the EPG is selected for presentation based on thereceived command; analyze the descriptor of the selected channel listedon the EPG to determine whether the selected channel providesaudio/visual content or provides audio-only content, wherein theaudio/visual content is determined when the descriptor corresponds tothe first characteristic that is associated with audio/visual type mediacontent, and wherein the audio-only content is determined when thedescriptor corresponds to the second characteristic that is associatedwith audio-only type media content; set the first function that controlspresentation of only the audio/visual content to the predefinedcontroller in response to determining that the selected channel providesthe audio/visual content; and set the second function that controlspresentation of only the audio-only content to the predefined controllerin response to determining that the selected channel provides theaudio-only content.
 20. The media device of claim 12, furthercomprising: a memory, wherein the memory stores a channel identifierdatabase that has a list of identifiers that are each uniquelyassociated with one of a plurality of available channels that providemedia content, wherein each of the plurality of available channels arefurther associated with one of the audio/visual content type of channelor the audio-only content type of channel, wherein the processor systemis further operable to: determine a unique identifier associated withthe currently received channel; and compare the unique identifier of thecurrently received channel with the list of identifiers of the channelslisted in the channel identifier database; wherein the currentlyreceived channel is determined to be the audio/visual content type ofchannel in response to the unique identifier of the currently receivedchannel matching the identifier of one of the plurality of availablechannels that is further associated with the audio/visual content typeof channel, and wherein the currently received channel is determined tobe the audio-only content type of channel in response to the uniqueidentifier of the currently received channel matching the identifier ofone of the plurality of available channels that is further associatedwith the audio-only content type of channel.